According to the National Institute for International Education, the number of foreign students registered at South Korean universities was nearly 124,000 as of April last year. Around 70,000 of them attended degree programs, while the remaining 51,856 were enrolled in nondegree programs.

After falling in the negative territory in the 2012-2014 period, the growth rate of foreign students at South Korean universities rose to 7.6 percent in 2015 and 14.2 percent in 2016.

The largest number of students came from China at 68,184, followed by Vietnam, Mongolia, Japan and the United States.